74 replies to this topic

[Champion 507]

I just remembered something. Does anyone remember a guy on ebay who went by the name of vonswartz from 5-10 years ago? That wasn't his real name, just his ebay handle. He sold a bunch of slot car stuff back then. If you look on ebay now there is someone from Sweden now using that name. It's NOT him. If I can wake up both of my brain cells, it seems to me he was from Iowa but I don't know what town. I distinctly remember he had an Orange track for sale on ebay and it needed a lot of work. I think the donut had been re-done but the rest of the track needed help. It eventually sold but I have no clue who bought it or where it went. I wonder if that was your track J.R. Hmmmmm........

[Bill from NH]

I recall the name vonswartz. Wasn't he always selling a bunch of clear Booth bodies? From Ames,IA maybe? There is another eccentric Iowa gentleman selling slot stuff on ebay. I alway thought it wss the same guy.

[Champion 507]

I remember vonswartz selling batmobile bodies and related parts and an occasional batmobile car. He also sold Cox parts too. I always thought his prices were kinda high.

[JRCoffelt]

Doug;
If that was my old Orange that I never had up and running, due to space limitations, the entire surface was a very rough particleboard with white paint, and the bridge where the cars changed lanes was in non functioning shape, both the slots and of course the braid on the whole track as well.

John

I just remembered something. Does anyone remember a guy on ebay who went by the name of vonswartz from 5-10 years ago? That wasn't his real name, just his ebay handle. He sold a bunch of slot car stuff back then. If you look on ebay now there is someone from Sweden now using that name. It's NOT him. If I can wake up both of my brain cells, it seems to me he was from Iowa but I don't know what town. I distinctly remember he had an Orange track for sale on ebay and it needed a lot of work. I think the donut had been re-done but the rest of the track needed help. It eventually sold but I have no clue who bought it or where it went. I wonder if that was your track J.R. Hmmmmm........

[Champion 507]

J.R.,
After the track owner before you closed his first place with the Engleman next to Riverlanes Bowling Center, he opened a second location at about 37th and Harvard in which he "shoe horned" the Orange track. A few of us locals remember that. But he wasn't open there very long either...maybe 6 months or less. The track was up and running then and seemed fine. How it got from that to the condition you got it and how both tracks ended up in storage remains a mystery.

[Jim Brown]

I saw Nutley Raceway had a 165' Engleman also. Can I get comments on it?

[JRCoffelt]

Non climate controlled mini-storage will do wonders to particle board.

[Mic B]

I know Tom thumb in Union, NJ, was in business in '65 and they were the Engleman rep for the area. That's was where I saw my first raceway on Thanksgiving weekend.

Tonyp,

Tom Thumb was the first track I raced on I was ten years old. The good old days...

[tonyp]

Was the first commercial raceway I ever went to. That Saturday after thanksgiving 1965 was the day that ruined my life. Lol...

[macman]

Interesting thread... I believe the Ft Smith track was transported to New Orleans along with a Hasse Kinglelman in early '91 or 92. The tracks were set up in Algiers, across the river from downtown, not far from a high-rise housing project... the track was upstairs... and that engleman was a BEAR!!! to carry up to the second story. It also had 110vac relays... NEVER use these on a slotcar track!!! I believe this raceway lasted at least a year...
I resurfaced, lengthened & repaired a 135 Engleman outside of Ashville NC that had come up from Fl., but had water damage from storage (may have come from Crawley)in the early '90s, but the owner replaced it with the ill fated New American King Climber prototype #1.
There is currently a massive Engleman hillclimb in Ga, probably awaiting a new owner... It has been set up several times in the past few years, Pictures are in the SERRA section of this site... Cheater, possibly you could put a picture of it in this thread???

[macman]

Just remembered something about Engleman tracks... John Ford did an interview with him and one thing it seems he did was he had a setup with 8 routers so an employee could push straight sections into this jig thing & cut all 8 lanes at a time... don't know if this also worked for the turns

[Daytonaman]

Interesting thread... I believe the Ft Smith track was transported to New Orleans along with a Hasse Kinglelman in early '91 or 92. The tracks were set up in Algiers, across the river from downtown, not far from a high-rise housing project... the track was upstairs... and that engleman was a BEAR!!! to carry up to the second story. It also had 110vac relays... NEVER use these on a slotcar track!!! I believe this raceway lasted at least a year...
I resurfaced, lengthened & repaired a 135 Engleman outside of Ashville NC that had come up from Fl., but had water damage from storage (may have come from Crawley)in the early '90s, but the owner replaced it with the ill fated New American King Climber prototype #1.
There is currently a massive Engleman hillclimb in Ga, probably awaiting a new owner... It has been set up several times in the past few years, Pictures are in the SERRA section of this site... Cheater, possibly you could put a picture of it in this thread???

Ben, check out the thread "Large 60's track with ramps" in this section.

John

[Daytonaman]

Just remembered something about Engleman tracks... John Ford did an interview with him and one thing it seems he did was he had a setup with 8 routers so an employee could push straight sections into this jig thing & cut all 8 lanes at a time... don't know if this also worked for the turns

Do you still have a copy of that interview somewhere? I would love to read the entire interview with one of the hobbys greatest track builders.

John

[Daytonaman]

Just posted on Tracks For Sale. A 220ft Stan Engleman Hi-Speed red was recently listed on Craigs List in St. Louis, Mo. It appears to be original down to the drivers station plates.

[Champion 507]

Dokk,

Will the new book have any catalog info from Stan Engleman. Did SE ever print any catalog info?

[sub006]

"$22.00 per foot, 80 foot minimum".  So a 220-foot track was almost $5000 before shipping.  Five grand was SERIOUS money in the sixties, OTOH two bowling lanes with pinsetters and scoreboard were probably more.

[Chris Dadds]

I just ran that 22.00 per foot figure through the inflation calculator and it came up with 161.47 per foot in 2015 dollars.  A guy could earn a living on that even without modern technology.

[idare2bdul]

In 1975 I was introduced to the San Diego YMCA's Engleman, a 220 run in reverse, I don't think I've ever enjoyed a track more. The locals were a fast bunch and when you were competitive here you knew you had accomplished something. 

[Michael Jr.]

This is an old thread but I'm just getting up to speed on Englemans. I have some picts of a Yellow Engleman and wonder if anyone knows whether it was built by Stan Engleman or if it was produced later, the length or any other details.

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[MSwiss]

The adjustable, triangular legs are a giveaway it is a "modern" track.

Those weren't invented until 1986, by Csaba S. (for Jerry Kulich's 2nd Hasse King track)

The walls and control panel are also very non-vintage.

[Eddie Fleming]

That big banked turn does not look like an original Engleman to me. I remember them being very steep all the way around. the one in the bowling alley in Atlanta had a shelf below the banked turn to catch falling cars and you could reach through and grab them from outside the turn. 

[Michael Jr.]

So I'm guessing the sections are the standard 8 ft. That would make this track less than the 220 ft. Engleman.

I'll see if I can figure out the builder. Someone ought to claim this. 

[tonyp]

Engleman track sections are built with a bottom on them.


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[MSwiss]

So I'm guessing the sections are the standard 8 ft. That would make this track less than the 220 ft. Engleman.

I'll see if I can figure out the builder. Someone ought to claim this. 

Yes, you are guessing.

 

I built both my road courses, using 5' x 10' sheets, and Gary Gerding has used 6' x 12' sheets.

 

And I'm 90% sure Steve O. has used 5' x 10' sheets.

[Steve Ogilvie]

That is one of mine. We built all our commercial tracks using 5' X 9' sheets of 1/2" mdf. Some sections were 10' long on the odd track, but pieces were glued together to avoid a joint in an awkward spot occasionally. Longer sheets were and are available but 5x9 always worked for me.

 

   On most of my late 80's and early 90's tracks, our company name was not on the driver's panels because the owners did not want people to know where to get a track from. If you look closely you can see coloured plastic discs used to ID the hookup posts. We used all kinds of those until our local hardware store stopped selling them. I did build at least 2- 220' Engleman style tracks but can't tell if that is one of them.

 

   Stan never built a single bottom track. The tracks that were at Elmsford were custom built by Stan Engleman.